THE UNC NEWS
Page 3
O. B. Hardison Jr.
'REFLECTIONS' Adds Vitality To UNC Campus
Thursday, June 22, 1961
(Dr. Hardison is an Associate
Professor of English at the Uni
versity. The Editors have asked
him to review "REFLECTIONS
from Chapel Hill," a new publica
tion now on sale in several local
stores including the Intimate, the
Carolina Coffee Shop and Harry's.
Eds.)
If little magazines are a sign of
vitality on a campus, UNC can af
ford to be a little smug. In addi
tion to the Carolina Quarterly,
three little magazines have been
published here in the past three
years. First there was Spectrum,
then Parlance, and now "REFLEC
TION from Chapel Hill." Its pre
decessors were quarterlies, but
with commendable optimism "RE
FLECTIONS" announces itself as a
monthly and sells for 40 cents at
your local newsstand. Whatever
else may be wrong with Chapel
Hill, its creative activities seem
to be flourishing.
I like the cover of "REFLEC
TIONS." It reminds me of William
Blake. The two feature articles
illustrate the desire of Robert
Brown, the editor, to make "RE
FLECTIONS" "an open forum . . .
for independent thinking, free cri
ticism, and public discussion." Pro
fessor Federico Gill, director of
Latin American Studies at UNC,
reviews the Cuban situation dis
passionately. He takes account of
Castro's positive reforms and sug
gests that a policy of containment
together with liberal economic as
sistance to Latin American demo
cracies offers the best hope for
preventing the spread of Castro
ism.
ROBERT BROWN'S "Listen,
Colored Man" is a more typical
little magazine article. Brown ar
gues in favor of action here and
now. He feels that committees for
world disarmament and similar
groups are actually escapist and
that our real responsibilities are
to social abuses which we can do
something about. The neo-conser-
vatives are so vocal these days
that it is refreshing to read an
article that sounds like old-style
liberalism. However, I was puz
zled by Mr. Brown's announce
ment that "you and I have been
mute witness to the death of the
American Negro." In view of
school integration, 'sit-ins,' and the
freedom riders, I submit that re
ports of the death of the Ameri
can Negro are grossly exaggerat
ed. We certainly cannot be compla
cent, but we can be a good deal
more optimistic than Mr. Brown.
"REFLECTIONS" ends with
three drawings which I feel are
attractive but inferior to its cover
drawings, and a short poem by
Richard Pierce titled "Requiem."
THE BIG PROBLEM of little
magazines is money. "REFLEC
TIONS" promises to be a stimulat
ing contribution to Chapel Hill's in
tellectual life. I hope that studeats
and townspeople will support it ac
tively, for if it is not supported it
will fail, and we will all be the
losers.
Newt Smith
Educator Must Present Different Views
Letter
God, Kerouac,
Pooh Again
. To the Editor,
The small article entitled "God"
that appeared in the June 8, 1961
edition of the UNC News was ap
palling. (Filler read: 'Don't you
know that God is Pooh Bear?
Jack Kerouac' Ed.)
May God have pity on anyone
who has the stupidity to refer to
his Maker as a "Pooh Bear"!
It is pathetic to know that some
people who have the privilege to
obtain a higher education come to
feel that they know all there is to
know, and regard God as a child's
fairy tale.
Even though this may be your
opinion, we would appreciate it
if you would not allow any more
atheistic articles such as this one
to appear in our campus paper,
(s) "Think Twice the Next Time"
P. S. How about printing this,
I'm sure this opinion is shared by
many.
(Editor's Note: the Pooh Bear
referred to in Kerouac's quote is
the Winnie-the-Pooh of A. A.
Milne fame. Milne's Pooh books
are much more than "child's
fairy tales.")
STUDENTS ARE ENCOURAGED
to write letters to the editor, and
to submit columns on subjects of
general interest. There is no edi
torial censorship of letters or co
lumnsthey may agree or disagree
with the editors. In fact, the edi
tors particularly encourage letters
expressing opposing positions from
theirs. There is no restriction on
length, within the bounds of rea
son. Letters do not have to be type
written. The UNC News offices are
on second floor, Graham Memorial.
PUNISHMENT
You may stand them on the trap
dotr of the scaffold, and choke
them to death, but that act will be
infinitely more coldblooded,
whether justified or not, than any
act that these boys have commit
ted or can commit. Clarence Dar
row at Leopold and Loeb trial
Now that every bite of food we
eat is taxed and 23 of that tax
goes fo rNorth Carolina educa
tion, it is time to evaluate just
where our money is going.
Some of the money will go to
ward physical plant development
and improvement. There is no
doubt that there is a great need
of this portion, but that allotment
will not automatically improve
the educational standards of the
state. Another part will be utilized
in the administrative areas of
our educational institutions, but
this too will not guarantee im
provement. The greatest portion
of the budget will be applied to
the improvement of the state's
teachers salaries.
This increase is greatly needed
and will keep us from having to
rely on "Thank God for South
Carolina." But will these expendi
tures and this supplement neces
sarily improve the disgusting and
embarasing condition of the
state's schools?
Although it is true that the low
social and economic position of
the teacher hinders advancement
in educational standards, mere
economic aid is not the solution to
the problem. Money will induce
more people into education and
hopefully better people, but the
exploding population and increas
i n g bureaucratic wastefulness
will quickly eat away the mar
gins as soon as they are gained,
, and as a result the teachers will
still be poorly paid and overwork
ed. And, finally, standards are
not a resultant of economics; they
are independent of such material
involvement.
Perhaps to understand what is
involved in the improvement of
education it is necessary to first
define education. Education
should seek to develop the mind
in its power and its awareness. It
should supply the individual with
the knowledge, skills, and values
which constitute the culture of
his environment. It should also
develop the mental processes so
that the individual who goes into
this environment is capable of
adaptation and innovation in ex
tracultural experience. To accom
plish this education must supply
alternate views from those of his
strict cultural views. The process
of understanding involves first
giving up one of these alternate
views. Education then is an as
similative and critical activity.
With this in mind one expects
an unusual excellence from the
members of this profession and
its results. Currently these hopes
and expectations are rapidly de
stroyed with a quick glance at
the educational scene. First of
all the educator seems to have
forgotten that he must present al
ternate views from those of so
ciety; he offers only the" cul
ture at hand. Occupied with
comfort and contentment,
this society and culture, if taught,
naturally stagnates and petrifies.
Unless one learns to make origin
al choices in school, he will nev
er learn them.
But we consistently see, even
within educational institutions, a
fear of originality, a dread of
innovation, a horror of the non
conformist, and a disturbing lack
of original and creative thought.
At the universities one sees that
education has come to mean a
period of time spent with extra
ordinary concern over credits and
grades in order to achieve a de
gree which is deemed necessary
for the acquisition of a job and.
its material benefits. Is this an
example of excellence?
Secondly, the actual instruction
of cultural values and knowledge
is deficient. The teacher is con
ceived as a person with little
more training than the layman
(not much) and less knowledge
than the scholar by a long shot).
If this view is predominant con
cerning the primary and second
ary teachers of our society, then
there is a vast failure in our edu
cational , system. In fact there
seems to be an overpowering dis-
"Very Unusual Weather We're Having"
mmm
a-rwv-
Jionesty present if one observes
the operation of the schools in the
state. When a teacher explains
biology while at the same time in
sisting that no one mention Dar
win, sex, or heredity, there is a
basic intellectual dishonesty.
Finally the profession itself suf
fers a malignancy, a disease
which is highly disastrous to the
profession. The actual courses in
education are held in disrespect
and are considered poorly plan
ned, excessively proliferated, and
totally unnecessary. Most college
students assume they are highly
uninteresting, most often ridicu
lous, and offered only because cf
some regretful state requirement
To quote Mortimer Smith of the
Council for Basic Education:
"Child Growth and Development
as presently constituted is not a
discipline but a cult, and Methods
and Materials comes under the
heading of tricks of the trade."
In essence contemporary edu
cators must remember that they
are not teaching someone who will
be able to utilize the views cf
present society he will be operat
ing in a future society. They must
present valid knowledge with a
challenge toward innovation
which constantly strains the in
tellect of their pupils while giving
them incentive and partial re
wards to prevent discouragement.
The world contemporary children
face is not one where their emo
tional and social adjustment are
of the greatest importance, but
where survival in a world-wide
holocaust is crucial, or where they
must survive in what Krushchev
promises to a Communist Ameri
- Exchange Student -
(Continued from Page 2) '
Sjam prepared a final evalua
tion paper for FSLP. It included
a description of Carolina. Some
random excerpts might give an
insight into Sjam himself: "Car
olinians are more friendly than
persons from other parts of the
country" . . . "The Honor and
Campus Codes' practices in my
opinion are not different from the
M.V.D. or the Gestapo" ... "I
am rather disappointed to notice
the apathy of the greater parts
of the student body towards na
tional and international prob
lems" . . .
Sjam is a fine example of wh3t
can be accomplished in interna
tional and interpersonal under
standing by constructive work cf
such "radical," broadly-thinking
groups as NSA. The Foreign Stu
dent Leadership Project is a con
crete program, which usually
nets concrete results. One of the
more pleasant results is Radea
Sjamsoeddini Wongsoharsono.
CJolfrlUT
NOBODY
Nobody minds. Nobody cares.
Pathetic, that's wf.st it is. V.e
can't all and some o; us don't. Thr.:'s
all there is to it. We czn't all ga.'c'y
and song-and-dance. Here c fo
round the mulberry buih ari r.jl
that. Eon-f omrny. I'm ret ccm
plairJrg. but There It Is. A. A.
IT.lr.e (Eeycre)